*Editor’s Note* There have been new developments in this story and construction will resume. To read the updates, click here.
The Mayor of Sunland Park, NM, has ordered a cease and desist on the construction of a segment of the southern border wall, infuriating residents and sparking accusations against state and local governments and Congressional Democrats. The one-half mile of steel bollard fence construction is located on private land near the base of Mount Cristo Rey, approximately 60 feet on the U.S. side of the border, and it was built with private funds.
Brian Kolfage
Members of the We Build the Wall citizens group were high-fiving one another as the section went up in record time on Memorial Day. The group’s founder, Air Force Veteran and triple-amputee Brian Kolfage, declared it to be the first success of many to follow.
All appeared to be well in the Land of Enchantment, with progress being made to curtail the overwhelming influx of illegal aliens: The rocky terrain was leveled and sections of the wall secured in place by week’s end. Permits had been previously filed, city officials on the ground to inspect, and then came the declaration by Mayor Javier Perea that the newly erected wall violated city ordinances.
It’s difficult to believe that no one saw that coming.
Kolfage tweeted his anger: “They were on site on Friday and gave us green light to build!”
Perea suddenly needed an environmental survey conducted and the permit, already on file for weeks, “completed.” But the good mayor’s real concern was the height of the “big beautiful” segment. At 20 feet high with another seven buried underground, it was in direct conflict with the city’s “under six” ordinance.
That’s hardly border protection level fencing, but the mayor believes that silly city ordinance out-ranks national security.
Perea proudly, in peacock fashion, went all in on the ordinance versus reality argument. “Safety is always a concern for the city of Sunland Park.”
Who can possibly believe that Perea is worried about resident safety? How is walling off the gang-bangers, human traffickers, and drug runners that find New Mexico an easy crossing unsafe?
The Group Has Street Creds
Steve Bannon and Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach sit on the advisory board for We Build the Wall and have verified that the landowner obtained the proper permits for construction and that inspectors were present at the build site prior to the start of the project. It would be a ridiculous assertion that neither of these men, or Kolfage, or the construction contractor, Fisher Industries, would begin without a permit.
So, what happened? And more importantly, why?
Kolfage isn’t shy about expressing his idea of who the culprits are and tweeted:
“Remember powerful people want to stop our progress … Here we go!! Liberals trying to intimidate us! SOUND THE ALARM. The governor trying to flex, city of Sunland park said we had no permits trying to shut us down.”
This latest stall in the wall comes on the heels of New Mexico’s alt-left Governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, slogging through the Swamp and begging for federal dollars to support state and local efforts in funding an overwhelming influx of illegal aliens. Grisham famously snubbed Trump last February by calling the border crisis a “charade” of the president’s own making and petulantly sent National Guard troops packing, leaving an exhausted Border Patrol to cope with hundreds of thousands of illegals.
The situation with overwhelmed, exhausted agents became so dire that, with no help from Swamp, citizen groups began camping and patrolling the border to help document illegal crossings and alert border patrol agents to their whereabouts – covering areas that were left unmanned when the National Guard was removed from duty.
Come what may with this latest immigration fiasco, local Border Patrol agents are eager to have the assistance from We Build the Wall – who has raised well over $23 million for border wall projects. As Mr. Kobach stated, “We’re closing a gap that’s been a big headache for them.”
Anyone have a pallet of aspirin for Border Patrol while we wait and see?
~
At Liberty Nation, we love to hear from our readers. Comment and join the conversation!
